FC Barcelona defeated Real Madrid to win their 29th La Liga title thanks to goals from Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres. Image Credit X/FCBarcelona
La Liga: At a boisterous Camp Nou on Sunday, Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 2-0 to win their 29th La Liga title, turning the Clasico into a coronation. With three games left, Hansi Flick’s team surged to an unbeatable 91 points, 14 ahead of Real Madrid in second place. The victory marked the end of an incredible season in which they only dropped four league games. With 69 points, Villarreal is in third place. Marcus Rashford destroyed Real Madrid’s hopes of winning the title after just nine minutes of play. Real needed to win.
Antonio Rudiger fouled Ferran Torres just outside the box and Rashford bent a superb free kick into Thibaut Courtois’ top-left corner, giving Barcelona the early lead and sending the home crowd into raptures.
Nine minutes later, Barcelona doubled the lead. Fermin Lopez crossed into the area and Dani Olmo produced a clever backheel that sent the ball into the path of Torres, who rifled a fierce strike into the top corner. The win completed back-to-back league titles for Flick, who also delivered the LaLiga and Copa del Rey double in his first season last year. Both sides were heavily depleted. Barcelona were without Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Jules Kounde from the starting lineup.
Real’s list of missing players was longer, with Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy, Arda Guler and Rodrygo all absent. Federico Valverde also missed out after suffering a head injury following a midweek changing-room fight with team mate Aurelien Tchouameni, with both players fined 500,000 euros over the incident. Kylian Mbappe did not travel because of a leg muscle injury, forcing manager Alvaro Arbeloa to start Vinicius Jr alongside academy striker Gonzalo, with Jude Bellingham and Brahim Diaz pushing forward in support. Real threatened through Vinicius and Gonzalo before halftime, but Barcelona carried the greater menace. Courtois kept the visitors alive with fine saves from Torres and Rashford before the interval.
Barcelona continued to press after the break, Rashford repeatedly tormenting left back Fran Garcia down the right, while Courtois produced another sharp stop with his left foot to deny Torres from point-blank range in the 56th minute. Bellingham had a goal ruled out for offside in the 62nd minute, and Joan Garcia was quick to deny Vinicius in a one-on-one, preventing the Brazilian from lifting the ball over him. Real kept probing late on, but there was little bite in their attack, and Barcelona calmly saw out the win before the title celebrations began.
“This title is even more special because we won it at home against Real Madrid. Now it’s time to enjoy it with the fans,” Frenkie de Jong told Spanish broadcaster Movistar Plus. “Every title has to be celebrated in style. Especially LaLiga, which is a year-long competition. We’ve clearly been the best in Spain.”
(With Agency Inputs)
Pragun is a passionate cricket follower and writer who deeply loves the game. Having completed his education with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has an experience of almost two years in diverse fields. He is known for his statistical and analytical articles. Pragun tries to bring life to his articles by adding a layer of enthusiasm from the perspective of a hardcore fan. Apart from writing cricket articles, he sometimes appears on YouTube videos on a friend’s podcast.
Lawrence Bishnoi gang has claimed responsibility for the firing outside the house of singer-actor Diljit…
Can Cristiano Ronaldo finally lift the Saudi Pro League trophy? Explore the title race scenarios…
The Cannes Film Festival 2026 started with a lot of people showing up and looking…
